Thursday, February 17, 2011

The ICC World Cup 2011 will begin today with the flashy Opening ceremony that will take place at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh today, February 17th, 2011.This opening ceremony will be telecast around the globe to about 220 countries. The entire list of TV channels that are telecasting this event live around the globe can be found at this link:Channels telecasting ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Watch ICC World Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony Live Streaming Online Free. You will be able to watch the grand opening ceremony live online at 12:00 GMT, also watch all the matches starting from the 19th Feb, live streaming at the link provided above from 8:30 GMT onwards. Later you can catch all the cricket highlights too. The complete telecast of the world cup opening ceremony online is covered by Espn-Star Sports.

The Opening ceremony itself has some spectacular performances lined up to enthrall the audience and entertain them. Look forward to the Canadian Pop Singer Bryan Adams who will be performing at the gala opening with his evergreen and most popular hit number, "Summer of 69". He will be the only western singer to perform at the event. He is in India at present performing live concerts at all the major metros, so we get a chance to see him perform live here.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Amrita, Aab-i-Hayat, Maha Ras, Aab-Haiwan, Dancing Water, Chasma-i-Kausar, Mansarover or the Pool of Nectar, Philosopher's stone and Soma Ras. These are all different names for the elixir of life, which is to give people a long life, keep them forever young and grant them immortality. From medieval times onward, people from all civilizations have been looking for such an elixir. Many in the past have claimed to have found that magic potion, but as we know now for sure no one has really achieved the desired results, at least not in the recorded history. As the hunt for the elusive substance continues, U.S. researchers may have found the answer to the “Elixir of Eternal Youth” in a breakthrough study that has managed to reverse the degeneration in mice, including brain damage and infertility, which could benefit people with signs of premature aging.

During a recent research, Scientists from Havard University claim to have partially reversed age-related degeneration in mice, resulting in new growth of the brain and testes, improved fertility, and the return of a lost cognitive function for the first time in history. The research was led by Ronald dePinho who stated that they had achieved the milestone in aging science by engineering mice with a controllable telomerase gene.

Exactly how the telomerase gene helps in the degenerative process is something that needs to be understood in order to fully comprehend the importance of this study and its future implications for humans.

What are Telomeres?

A telomere can be found at the end of a chromosome, which acts like a cap or a bookend. Telomeres are protective DNA-protein complexes that prevent the chromosomes from fusing into rings or binding with other DNA. They play an important role in cell division. When the cell divides, it copies the exact DNA sequence from the chromosomes of the parent cell and in the process, a part of the telomere is clipped off (shortened) and donated to the DNA sequence at the end of the chromosome so that the copying is complete and accurate. Therefore, the telomeres get shortened each time a cell divides.

The Process of Aging

The length of the telomeres can get shorter and the essential parts of the DNA can get damaged in the replication process. The scientists have noted that cells stop replicating when telomeres are shorter. Normally in humans, it is found that a cell replicates about 50 times before the telomeres become too short. This limit is called the Hayflick limit. Thus, the length of a cell’s telomeres can be used to determine the age of the cell and also how many more times it will replicate. Therefore, we can understand that longer telomeres will lead to longer life.

So, what can be done counteract the shortening of the telomeres, or even slow down the process? Well, there are two possibilities: encouraging less frequent cell division and the enzyme telomerase. Less frequent cell division can be accomplished by calorie-restricted diets, and by avoiding inflammation and injury. The enzyme “telomerase” adds chemical components to the ends of the telomere, which slows their erosion.

Scientists have been examining this enzyme “telomerase” as a possible “Fountain of youth” substance. However, too much of telomerase can increase the risk of cancer, as there is no slowing down of cell division.

The U.S. researchers studied this telomerase enzyme by “creating mice with a telomerase switch by which they were able to generate prematurely aged mice. The switch allowed them to find out whether reactivating telomerase would restore telomeres and mitigate the symptoms of aging. The results showed a dramatic reversal of many aspects of aging, including reversal of brain disease and infertility.”

The human applications of this study still remain in the distant future, but the implications are tremendous. “We may be able to treat conditions like rare genetic premature aging syndromes in which the shortened telomeres play an important role, said DePinho, senior author of the report posted by the journal Nature.

The list of nominees for the Oscar Awards 2011, 83rd annual academy awards were released on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. This article provides you the list of nominees for the most important categories that we all love to see, namely: The Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Foreign Language Film among a couple of others.The list of nominees for the Oscars does have lots of surprises this year too. And yes, we are disappointed with the Bollywood not being able to make it to the Foriegn film category this year too. Well, better luck next time. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/83/nominees.html

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will be held on 27th February at 8/5p and officially brought to you live by abc.com. The list of nominations for the prestigious Oscar awards 2011 is out and yes there are quite a lot of surprises this year too. The movies that are in the spotlight this year are :- The King's Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone for the Best Picture category. Of these, The King's Speech has already recieved 12 nominations, which gives it a fair chance to win the award for the best picture. Watch Oscar Awards 2011 Live at the link provided below. You can also follow the Red Carpet event at 6.30/3.30p and view all the nominations in all the other categories and watch their videos online in this website. Follow the Red Carpet event here: http://oscar.go.com/red-carpet

For the rest of us in India, the Oscar Awards 2011, 83rd Annual Academy Awards will be telecast live on Star Movies. "Rajeev Masand brings to you all the Oscar developments live from the red carpet only on Feb 28 at 6:30 am followed by the telecast of the awards ceremony. The excitement shall continue day after when Rajeev Masand brings us a post ceremony special from Los Angeles with an International film critic on March 1st at 9:00 pm."

Let me mention here that to access live show, one needs to register online at the link provided on the website as "Join" or for those who are already members can "Sign in" to "Oscar All Access", which is a "new premium feature that gives online Oscar fans the ultimate insider's view of Hollywood's biggest night. Beginning with the Red Carpet and continuing through the Governor's Ball, Oscar fans can direct their own experience on the red carpet and inside the ceremony using groundbreaking "360 cam" technology to control multiple cameras with the click/drag functionality of their computer mouse, for just $4.99 only. And this feature is only available in the United States and its territories. However, they have provided more detailed information about where you can watch the event live in the US and internationally at this link: http://oscar.go.com/site/where-to-watch